THE RACEHORSES #1: TENSHINRAMMAN 
It's been another day of downloads, followed by me running around in circles like a headless chicken. I need a break, so here we are with the first of the mini-profiles of the horses I have a stake in. We'll start with the JRA contenders, taking them roughly in the order they appear at the bottom of the page for ease, which means it's Tenshinramman's turn today...

We've already mentioned Tenshinramman a few times, as it happens, as she was the first of the new racers to make her debut, and is soon to challenge the tracks again. Anyway, to recap, she's by Heart's Cry out of Hana Ramman. Heart's Cry was the first horse to beat Deep Impact, and also won the 2005 edition of the Arima Kinen, which, although not a classic race in the true sense, it's a classic of sorts as it brings the best of the best together at Nakayama to provide a stunning G1 finale for the end of the year.

Courtesy Carrot Club

Anyone that knows me will appreciate the value I place on Hail To Reason blood, and Heart's Cry's father is US Hall of Famer, Sunday Silence, who was sired by Halo, who in turn was fathered by Hail To Reason. On the dam's side, we can see Tony Bin and Northern Dancer blood combining.

Tenshinramman's mother was sired by Sakura Yutaka O, himself a legend, but his bloodlines read like a who's who of the golden age of British horse racing - Hyperion, Nasrullah (by Nearco out of Mumtaz Begum), Big Game, Never Say Die, and a list as long as your arm of heroes from an earlier era. The mother's dam was Fight Boron, bringing Nasrullah into the equation again, this time via Mill Reef - winner of a number of major races, including the Epsom Derby and King George VI & Queen Elizabeth Stakes in England, and the l'Arc de Triomphe in France.

This picture shows Tenshinramman in her first race, when she came second in a classy field at Niigata. Based with the Ito Stable at Miho Training Centre, let's hope she can go one better in the next race!